


Shelter

by Jessyn



Series: Talira Legacy: Moments Between Missions [4]
Category: Star Wars Legends: The Old Republic
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-08-08
Updated: 2018-08-08
Packaged: 2019-06-23 22:05:02
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 881
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15616020
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Jessyn/pseuds/Jessyn
Summary: Sadie takes a moment to start to grieve, Aric starts to realize he's developing Feelings.





	Shelter

Sadie

It was the wee hours of the morning when I heard the quiet knock on the bulkhead outside my quarters. Without even looking up from my reports, I grunted an assent to whomever was outside; likely Elara with a new batch of forms to sign and a slightly hypocritical admonition to go to bed. She was an incredible asset to the squad, and was starting to realize I wasn't such a huge stickler for off duty reg compliance, but I also knew that some habits were very hard to break. And ultimately, she was right: I had taken to doing paperwork until my eyes burned so I wouldn't have to process anything about Mom.

“Got a minute, sir?” Aric's voice almost made me jump.

“Uh, yeah,” I said, shoving my datapad aside and indicating he should sit on the bed with me. Not a lot of other options for seating, and I'd made it pretty clear that things were relatively informal during downtime. “What can I do for you?”

His body language practically screamed disquiet as he came in and sat. As a unit, Aric and I had been through a lot in the last few months, and he'd very definitely seen me through some unpleasant personal instances, but he generally kept to himself in his downtime. I didn't blame him; were our situations reversed, I'd probably do the same.

“Sir, I --” he started, fidgeting a bit, before I held up my hand.

“Sadie,” I corrected gently. “Or Sadako if you want. But no ranks, no honorifics while we're off duty.”

I barely caught the half smile and sheepish chuckle. “If you insist. Anyway.” I cocked my head to one side as he took a breath, eyes tipped toward the ceiling. He was turning something over in his fingers, and in his head. “Sir – uh, Sada – ah, hell.” He sighed and handed me the object he'd been playing with: a holodisk. “Your mother asked me to give that to you, Sadie, the night she passed. Been meaning to, but we got deployed so fast, and then Taris … guess I was just waiting for a quiet minute.”

“... oh.” It was less an actual response than just the sound of breath leaving my body; I didn't know what I'd expected, but it certainly wasn't that. The disk suddenly felt very heavy in my hands.

“I …” Aric cleared his throat and moved to get up. “I'll give you some priv-”

“Don't.” One of my hands shot out and caught his arm of it's own volition. “Please?” I couldn't look away from the little plasticine chit in my other palm.

“You sure?” I could practically feel his eyes on the top of my head.

“Yeah,” I half whispered. “I ...”

“Don't want to do this alone.”

~~*~~

Aric

Some untold amount of time later, I found myself propped up against the headboard of Sadie's bunk, her head pillowed on my chest. She'd long since cried herself into a restless sleep, having finally had a moment to start to process the loss of her mother. The disk had been a recording of Mrs. Caron, of course, but not last words of regret or apologies. Instead, she had recorded herself reading the bedtime stories that Sadie had heard as a child, as well as a lullaby in what I took to be a mix of Mando'a and her native dialect of Basic.

It was a gift only a mother would think to give.

Sadie had started out as stoic as I knew she could be, but by the time her mother's frail voice had started the third fairy tale, silent tears were streaming down her face. I hadn't been able to resist the urge to pull her into a hug at that point, which had ultimately set off proper crying. And now, here we were, my CO snuggled tightly under my arm, occasionally hiccuping a small sob in her sleep.

And the whole situation felt surprisingly … right. I couldn't find a better way to describe the way her weight felt against my torso – which, to be honest, scared the shit out of me, since there were a whole host of reasons why it shouldn't.

Army regulations, the whole commanding officer thing, my career, _her_ career, various cultural norms on my end …

But. Looking down at Sadie's tear-stained face, the years her mother's passing and all this bullshit with Tavus had prematurely added, not a single one of those reasons felt like it had a lot of weight behind it. And damn if she wasn't attractive. The whole combination of auburn hair and cobalt blue eyes was striking enough; the facial tattoo, personality, and a certain adeptness with assault rifles only added to things.

I groaned softly and pressed my free hand to my face, intending to simply scrub the itch from behind my eyes. Next thing I knew, I heard Dorne clearing her throat from the doorway.

Sadie didn't so much as stir at the noise.

I cracked an eye open just enough to see her half smirk at the sight of us and raise an eyebrow before turning and walking away. Huh. Maybe she wasn't as uptight as I thought.

“Go back to sleep, Sergeant,” I heard her call quietly from the common area. “Doctor's orders.”

~fin~


End file.
